Sunday, October 05, 2008

Armadillos, Dignified Plants, and Side Effects of Coca-Cola

I missed a great event on Thursday. Not the VP Debate. I watched that. And I patriotically ate a lot of apple pie while doing so. Apple crumb pie from the Jericho Cider Mill. Best pie in the world. Low on goo. I am not a fan of apple pies with high goo ratios. In fact, I'm not a fan of any food with a high goo ratio. Like enormous Cadbury eggs. Just a bad idea. The sugar goo to chocolate ratio... But I digress.

The big event of the night was the awarding of the 2008 Ig Noble Prize Awards. I love the Ig Noble Awards. They make me happy. If you've never heard of them, the Ig Nobles are awarded annually to scientific research and/or academic achievements that "first make you laugh then make you think."

My personal favorite continues to be the 2005 Literature Prize awarded to: "The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters -- General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others -- each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them."

NUTRITION PRIZE. Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is.

PEACE PRIZE. The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) and the citizens of Switzerland for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity.

ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE. Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, for measuring how the course of history, or at least the contents of an archaeological dig site, can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo.

BIOLOGY PRIZE. Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert,, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.

ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that a professional lap dancer's ovulatory cycle affects her tip earnings.

PHYSICS PRIZE. Dorian Raymer of the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and Douglas Smith of the University of California, San Diego, USA, for proving mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE. Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson of Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School (USA), for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong of Taipei Medical University (Taiwan), C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang (all of Taiwan) for discovering that it is not.

LITERATURE PRIZE. David Sims of Cass Business School, London, UK, for his lovingly written study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations."

Apparently, the winners for cognitive science sang their acceptance speech in three-part harmony. And the winners for chemistry were toasted with bottles of Coke.

I think this is awesome. I also think I owe apologies to several plants.

the armidillo got me rolling!i once had a hamster...it got lose one night..fell to the floor...crawled to my back back...(next to which my math homework lay-) and shredded my homework! the teacher..she didn't believe me!another time, it tried to eat my science progect- how differnt colors of light affect plant growth- disaster!i guess i can't do that( the science project!) anymore- they have dignity!

SavyLeartist: I keep trying to think of a counter-example (a goo-intensive food that isn't disgusting), but I'm drawing a blank... I stand by my assertion that any food that can be most accurately described as "goo" is just not yummy.

AnnaDee: "Hamster ate my homework." Fabulous! I'm sorry the teacher didn't believe you. I had a guinea pig once. Very boring pet. Every time you picked him up, he would get so nervous that he would... well, suffice it to say, you'd have to wrap the rodent in a towel if you wanted to cuddle him. In retrospect, I think his nervous personality may have been caused by our cat, who liked to lie on top of the his cage and stare down at him...

that would do it. i had a cat that was.. TERRIFIED of one of my hammies.( i had 20..the pets store lied..they saud my brother and i had two girl hamsters. a month later, we discover..the truth!)we don't know why my monster of a cat was scared of little, half an once Smoke... might have had something to do twth tearing the fur/skin off half his nose...heh!

About Me

I'm the author of eleven fantasy novels for adults, teens, and kids, including DRINK SLAY LOVE, the basis for the upcoming TV movie of the same name, airing on Lifetime in 2017. Several of these have been finalists for the Mythopoeic Award and the Andre Norton Award, and VESSEL won the Mythopoeic Award in 2013. My latest book for adults is an epic fantasy called THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, available now from Harper Voyager. I'm very, very, very excited about this.

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The Queen of Blood

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow... But these are not sweet, frolicking nature sprites from a pastoral tale. The spirits that reside within this land want to kill all humans, the way white blood cells want to kill a virus. Only a few women have the power to command and control the spirits. These women become queens -- or die trying.
Available now from
Harper Voyager.
Read the first two chapters.Order now!

"A truly wonderful fantasy story. Filled with fresh ideas and excitement, told with verve and heart." -- Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of the Shannara series

"Thrilling, heartrending, enchanting, absolutely un-put-down-able!" -- Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of the Tortall series

The Girl Who Could Not Dream

The story of a girl whose family owns a secret dream shop where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, and the adventure that she and her best friend -- a loyal and cupcake-loving monster named Monster -- go on when someone starts kidnapping dreamers.
Available now from
HMH / Clarion Books.
Read the first two chapters.Order now!

"Boy, do readers have a treat in store for them! Funny, scary, and endlessly inventive, this is the kind of book I would have adored as a kid." -- Bruce Coville, author of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

"A perfect combination of adventure, humor, and pure imagination!" -- Jessica Day George, New York Times bestselling author of the Tuesdays at the Castle series

"A twisted circus of a book, completely freaky and delicious at the same time. It's a thriller, a fairy tale nightmare, and a romance all in one, unlike anything else and impossible to predict. I could not stop reading!" --
Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series

"Durst combines the particular terrors of memory loss and icy bureaucracy with the colorful horrors of carnivalesque murder, killer sleight-of-hand, and a creepy, terrible truth about Eve's very being. Disorientation, curiosity, and fear course through the story, offering tight suspense and satisfying mystification even up to the last pages. An unusual blend of magical worlds, psychological thriller, and teen romance." --
Horn Book

"Combining a sense of humor with the dark appeal of supernatural romance, this book is funny, scary and thought provoking all at once. Even jaded fans of the supernatural will find fun in this one." --
Kirkus Reviews

"Having her way with the conventions of the genre, Durst crafts a fresh, modern, and humorous twist on the vampire novel. Lively characters and a sweet romance are icing on the cake." --
Publishers Weekly

Enchanted Ivy

A story about getting into college. You know, taking the campus tour, talking to the gargoyles, flirting with the were-tigers, riding the dragons... While visiting the campus of Princeton University, 16-year-old Lily discovers a secret gate to a magical realm and must race against time to save herself, her world, and any hope she has of college admission.
Available now from
Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Read the first chapter.Order now!

"ICE is a beautiful and shivery tale of sacrifice and love. Highly recommended, and just in time for the winter season." -- Becca Fitzpatrick, author of
Hush, Hush

Out of the Wild

Join Julie on a magical road trip across America. A flying bathmat, a very drowsy princess, a fire- breathing dragon, and several
thousand magic beanstalks... Julie's world, our world, will never be the same again. A sequel to Into the Wild, available now from
Penguin Young Readers /
Razorbill.
Read the first chapter.Order now!

"An enchanting romp full of adventure, humor and cleverness!" --
Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles and Tithe

"An amazing, wild ride with very high stakes, and the fate of humans and fairytale people alike on the shoulders of one determined girl.
This is even better than the first book!" --
Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier (Beka Cooper) and The Will of the Empress

"This is one of those rare occasions when the sequel is as good as the first book, if not better. Though, in my estimation, they make two
halves of one story, and what a wonderfully entertaining story it is." -- Charles de Lint, author of
The Blue Girl and Widdershins

"Head-spinning fun! Any book that mixes fire breathing dragons and Elvis Presley is a rare treat." --
Michael Buckley, New York Times bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm series

"INTO THE WILD is VERY cool, with a unique look at the great fairytale characters. I couldn't put it down
until I knew how this brave, extraordinary girl could face such powerful magic!" --
Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier (Beka Cooper) and The Will of the Empress

"Sarah Beth Durst's INTO THE WILD is fabulous in the oldest, truest, and best sense of the word, harking
back to fables, wonder, and magic unleashed. It's bold, sassy, and utterly engaging. I can't wait to see
what she does next!" -- Bruce Coville, author of
The Unicorn Chronicles and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

"INTO THE WILD's fairy-tale characters are fascinating, and Julie is everything one could want in a heroine
-- she's intelligent, practical, determined and brave; at once more ordinary and more extraordinary than she
herself thinks she is. I'll be keeping an eye out for more work from Sarah Beth Durst." --
Patricia C. Wrede, author of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles